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Phanny, v. 3, issue 1, Spring 1944

page 8

8                                   PHANNY                                     8

I'm one of the many FAPA members who had never before read "Alicia in Blunderland." I can understand the basis for its fabled greatness, now.
STEFNEWS (pages 3 &4; was I supposed to get 1 & 2?) Either I'm not up on the dope as well as I should be, or else this isnn't as humorous as it tried to be. Don't know who put it out, but it was very reminiscent of the very young Bill Deutsch of the Denvention. Bill was really young then, and naturally behaved that way; but surely, he has groen a little older since 1941.
THE FANTASY AMATEUR. ** PRESIDENT -- I think the matter of again elarging the FAPA should be put over for at least a year, in order to determine just what the advantages and disadvantages--if any--of the first enlargement amount to. Size in itself is not a worthwhile end. Such a policy results in far too much dead wood, and too great a loss of lively interest and general cohesiveness. On the other hand, it is worth considering that practically all the potential embers onw on the waiting list are established fans who could be expected to make worthy contributions from the start. As an alternative to enlargement beyond a certain limit, I suggest that it might be well to raise the entrance requirements, and perhaps, the activity requirements. Then, if necessary, a second Association could be formed, under the sponsorship of the existing FAPA, with members of each free to exchange publications if they desired. The last has serious drawbacks, however, in that most FAPA pubs are largely personalized, and are likely to be in part unintelligible to any one not participating fully in its activities. ( That is what I get for trying to compose directly on the stencit; the antecedent of "its" is supposed to be "FAPA"). -- The handlingof the prolem of half-memberships seems OK to me; but the halves which are to be dropped at the expiration of the year should be determined now, and their names placed on the waiting list, so that they will not be forced to skip a quarter or two; or better yet, they should be placed at the head of the current waiting list, with the understanding that the position doesn't become operative until their present memberships have run for a year.
FAN-TODS. Definitely tops in the mailing, this time, although there are several worthy competitors. "Societies, Cultures and Things" if penetrating and thought-provoking. I'm looking forward with interest to Stanley's reply; but in the meantime, I may as well uphold my FAPA position of official Fence Sitter in important debates. So here goes:
Both Davis and Stanley apparently assume that cultural and economic considerations are essentially discrete qualities, capable of being separated and considered each on their own merits. I don't think the social sciences have advanced far enough to make that possible, if it ever becomes possible. They are simply facets of the same thing, completely inseparable.
As an example, let's consider the ancient, if dishonorable pastime of Jew-baitings. I don't think the members of the FAPA who are Jewish or of Jewish ancestry will object; they are surely usedto being used as examples by now. Hew-baiting, to begin with, is now and has always been, carried on as a blind, while the instigators carry on more lucrative or more purposeful activities--such as the establishment of a dictatorship. In recent times, the Ku Klux Klan and the America Firsters have used it in our country, as well as a number of other more-or-less-un-American and politically undesirable groups. The Nazis used it of course, for the same purpose in Germany.
But the question is not why it was used, but why it was so successful, and still is. The answer is three-fold. First, the Jews denies Christ, and eventually killed Him; so at least, the Bible holds. In ancient times, this was the basis of almost all persecution of the Jews, in spite of Christ's teaching of tolerance. Second, their is the "Chosen Race" complex of Jews themselves; belief which, intrinsically, is as irritating as the German "super-race" Blah. THird, there is the wide-spread and widely-accepted idea that the Jews are gradually acquiring all the wealth in this country by means which, however legal, are at least unethical.
The first two factors are definitely cultural; the third is economic, primarily, although the "unethical" part of the charge is cultural, if it is true. The religious question would scarcely raise a ripple in these days of religious apathy; the second could be, and has been at various times, laughed off. But

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8 PHANNY 8 I'm one of the many FAPA members who had never before read "Alicia in Blunderland." I can understand the basis for its fabled greatness, now. STEFNEWS (pages 3 &4; was I supposed to get 1 & 2?) Either I'm not up on the dope as well as I should be, or else this isnn't as humorous as it tried to be. Don't know who put it out, but it was very reminiscent of the very young Bill Deutsch of the Denvention. Bill was really young then, and naturally behaved that way; but surely, he has groen a little older since 1941. THE FANTASY AMATEUR. ** PRESIDENT -- I think the matter of again elarging the FAPA should be put over for at least a year, in order to determine just what the advantages and disadvantages--if any--of the first enlargement amount to. Size in itself is not a worthwhile end. Such a policy results in far too much dead wood, and too great a loss of lively interest and general cohesiveness. On the other hand, it is worth considering that practically all the potential embers onw on the waiting list are established fans who could be expected to make worthy contributions from the start. As an alternative to enlargement beyond a certain limit, I suggest that it might be well to raise the entrance requirements, and perhaps, the activity requirements. Then, if necessary, a second Association could be formed, under the sponsorship of the existing FAPA, with members of each free to exchange publications if they desired. The last has serious drawbacks, however, in that most FAPA pubs are largely personalized, and are likely to be in part unintelligible to any one not participating fully in its activities. ( That is what I get for trying to compose directly on the stencit; the antecedent of "its" is supposed to be "FAPA"). -- The handlingof the prolem of half-memberships seems OK to me; but the halves which are to be dropped at the expiration of the year should be determined now, and their names placed on the waiting list, so that they will not be forced to skip a quarter or two; or better yet, they should be placed at the head of the current waiting list, with the understanding that the position doesn't become operative until their present memberships have run for a year. FAN-TODS. Definitely tops in the mailing, this time, although there are several worthy competitors. "Societies, Cultures and Things" if penetrating and thought-provoking. I'm looking forward with interest to Stanley's reply; but in the meantime, I may as well uphold my FAPA position of official Fence Sitter in important debates. So here goes: Both Davis and Stanley apparently assume that cultural and economic considerations are essentially discrete qualities, capable of being separated and considered each on their own merits. I don't think the social sciences have advanced far enough to make that possible, if it ever becomes possible. They are simply facets of the same thing, completely inseparable. As an example, let's consider the ancient, if dishonorable pastime of Jew-baitings. I don't think the members of the FAPA who are Jewish or of Jewish ancestry will object; they are surely usedto being used as examples by now. Hew-baiting, to begin with, is now and has always been, carried on as a blind, while the instigators carry on more lucrative or more purposeful activities--such as the establishment of a dictatorship. In recent times, the Ku Klux Klan and the America Firsters have used it in our country, as well as a number of other more-or-less-un-American and politically undesirable groups. The Nazis used it of course, for the same purpose in Germany. But the question is not why it was used, but why it was so successful, and still is. The answer is three-fold. First, the Jews denies Christ, and eventually killed Him; so at least, the Bible holds. In ancient times, this was the basis of almost all persecution of the Jews, in spite of Christ's teaching of tolerance. Second, their is the "Chosen Race" complex of Jews themselves; belief which, intrinsically, is as irritating as the German "super-race" Blah. THird, there is the wide-spread and widely-accepted idea that the Jews are gradually acquiring all the wealth in this country by means which, however legal, are at least unethical. The first two factors are definitely cultural; the third is economic, primarily, although the "unethical" part of the charge is cultural, if it is true. The religious question would scarcely raise a ripple in these days of religious apathy; the second could be, and has been at various times, laughed off. But